Kavita Nadan – Locumate Co-Founder
I’ve spent the last couple of years imagining, designing, building and testing the idea of a platform for pharmacies and locums to connect directly. I’ve spent an equal amount of time reimagining, redesigning, rebuilding, and retesting everything we thought we knew. So today, it brings me great joy to announce the launch of Locumate!
The launch is a phased roll out across Victoria, with the rest of Australia to follow. As a pharmacist, I’ve had first-hand experience on both sides of our platform; as a bright-eyed bushy tailed pharmacy graduate looking for work, and as a pharmacy manager, desperately wrangling last-minute locum shifts through agencies I had no control or oversight of.
It’s this experience that led to the genesis of Locumate. The feeling that there just had to be a better way, for everyone involved. A way to give pharmacies control of asking for what they need, simplicity in a booking process, and transparency in who they work with and what they’ll be charged. Equally for locums, we wanted a way to choose where and when they’d like to work, clarity over how much they’ll be paid before taking a job, and a seamless way to get paid and view their shifts.
As we forged ahead with this project, it dawned on us that we weren’t alone thinking that there had to be a solution. I’ve always valued innovation, building, failing and learning quickly. But the best way to innovate and to learn is to put your product in the hands of your customers, and to involve them in every step of the way. So we did. A group of pharmacies and locums have been trialling Locumate, and have shared what they think:
“All I’ve done so far is set it up and approve a couple of time sheets. That was all easy. I got an email saying that there were submitted timesheets and to please action, which I was able to do easily. I’d recommend it, we use a lot of locums here. So far so good!” – J.,Pharmacy Manager.
“Locumate has got a lot of merit, I can’t see much fault at all. I like the way it tells you in advance when your shifts are. I like it very very much. I think it’s a very clever step forward in the right direction.” – A., locum.
I’m incredibly proud to launch Locumate today, but I’m more excited for what’s ahead. I’m passionate about building an empowered community of pharmacies and locums, and I think this starts by giving our community choices that they’ve never had before. This includes the ability to make decisions over how they’d like to work, develop and learn together, plus a digital solution to bring it all together.
We know that there’s a better way, and we’d love for you to come on the journey with us. This is just the beginning.
Kavi
